The Hindu : Of Vedas and Vice Presidents...

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003

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Other States - Rajasthan

Of Vedas and Vice Presidents...

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR MARCH 21. The Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, feels certain privileges, like accepting one's knowledge of difficult subjects like the Vedas, come as part of the post one holds.

``I now talk on the Vedas in my speeches. Who is going to question the Vice-President on his grasp of the subject even if there are Vedic scholars sitting among the audience?'' Mr. Shekhawat observed.

Mr. Shekhawat was in a cheerful as well as sentimental mood at a function here on Thursday to launch the audio cassettes and CDs of "Geet Govind'', a musical based on the works of the 12th Century devotional poet Jaidev created by Rajasthan Patrika TV. The occasion coincided with the 78th birthday of his bosom friend, Karpoor Chandra Kulish, also the founder of the Hindi daily Rajasthan Patrika.

The issue of knowing the Vedas came up during the brief but inspiring speech by Mr. Shekhawat, as Mr. Kulish had taken a fascination for the texts in the past. There used to be regular articles in Rajasthan Patrika on the Vedas but his problem was when Mr. Kulish used to check with him whether he had read them.

``I never read them because I knew I would not understand anything. He kept asking me. One day I read the article written by him and told him that I read it. But when he asked me what was it about I could not remember a thing, including the title,'' he confessed to the amused audience, which included the Rajasthan Governor, Justice Anshuman Singh and eminent folklorist, Komal Kothari.

Mr. Shekhawat said he had started reading the Vedas more seriously after becoming the Vice- President. One reason for this was an Arya Samaj function in which he was introduced to books published by "Satya Prakashan''.

Referring to the friendship between them, Mr. Shekhawat said he has known Mr. Kulish for the past 50 years when the latter was selling his newspaper on a bicycle. They used to share paan at a shop on the city's Mirza Ismail Road, he recollected.

With the rise of both -- one to the second highest Constitution post in the country and the other as a media baron -- many stories about them have become a part of local legend. However, the Vice-President's reminiscences, despite being laced with subtle humour did not miss the inevitability of age catching up -- along with the accompanying illnesses -- and the distance between Delhi and Jaipur.

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